Bergen County residents waiting on line to have paper documents shredded at a Community Services building. The event was organized by the Bergen County Utilities Authority.

Despite rain and cool weather, people lined up in the parking lot of the county's Community Services Building in Paramus before 9 a.m. Sunday. Limited to four boxes and bags of no more than 10 pounds each, residents came with cartons and shopping bags filled with personal and confidential papers stored for years in attics, file cabinets, basements and garages.

"It's a gift for me … and also my family," said Little Ferry resident Mary Burke after she watched the shredder grind medical records, personal papers and letters.

"I am retired now and I don't want to leave my family with a lot of paperwork and things to discard" she said. "I'm so glad this was available because if I had to get it done on the outside, it could have cost me a lot of money."

Residents were able to watch as their papers were shredded inside a truck, which can hold 10 tons, on a small camera attached to the side.

"People really want to see their stuff being destroyed," said Mark Vangieri of the Bergen County Utilities Authority. "They are taking the time and effort to come here, so we require the vendor to have a camera on site."

Michael Bowen of Ridgefield arrived at 8:30 a.m. to watch his documents listing Social Security and bank account numbers shredded after years of storage.

"We've been meaning to get rid of sensitive documents for quite a few years," said Bowen, a retired Port Authority engineer.

"It was either slowly shred them or hire a shredding truck, so this has worked out perfectly. I had pay stubs from the 1980s, insurance information, Social Security numbers. You worry about people stealing your identity. I watched it all be shredded."

Sunday's event came at the right time for Carlstadt firefighter Bob Korsen and his wife, Maryann because it was time to toss old tax-return forms, canceled checks and receipts.

"We decided to get rid of all the old files … the oldest back to 1996," Korsen said. "We planned this for the last couple of weeks. I'm just glad to get rid of it."